


seeing you under the stars' light

by maiaslightwood



Series: when all the stars align for you and i. [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s02e03 Parabatai Lost, Episode: s02e07 How Are Thou Fallen, Episode: s02e17 A Dark Reflection, Episode: s02e20 Beside Still Water, F/F, First Impressions, First Meetings, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Science Girlfriends, izzy might already have a bit of a crush, listen there is no chance in hell izzy and maia didn't talk in that episode, or... on their way there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 06:44:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15113969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maiaslightwood/pseuds/maiaslightwood
Summary: The four times Isabelle and Maia meet which are less than ideal and the one time they get to talk and find they have more in common than they both first thought.





	seeing you under the stars' light

**Author's Note:**

> here i go again with these two....  
> needless to say, i had this planned and almost finished during the hiatus but life happened and i didn't open it until two days ago. hopefully i'll be able to finish some of my wips in the coming weeks because i miss writing and i realized i rarely ever post anything on here.
> 
> i just didn't like how maia & izzy were handled on the show, mainly their first interaction so here have a little fix-it of sorts where they talk at the end of 2.20 and build some fragile friendship. this can be read as the beginning of the rest of my maia/izzy fics but also as a standalone. 
> 
> song title from _pretty girl_ by hayley kiyoko.
> 
> english isn't my native language and this is unbeta'd, just so you are aware.

**i.**

Later, Isabelle hardly remembers the first, that moment in the dark streets with the night air somewhere between a welcome cool and chilling to the bones. She hardly remembers because her heart kept pounding, a twisting feeling in her gut that dared to rise through her throat and choke her. There is one brother, beaten and bruised and bloody and threatened by death and then there is the other, unconscious and with time slipping through his fingers, somewhere in Magnus’s loft. So, she doesn’t pay much attention to the werewolves, to Luke Garroway’s glowing eyes and the girl opposite of Jace bowing her head in submission.

 

**ii.**

“She’s cute.” It’s the first time she really sees her, lets her eyes linger for a moment longer to take in the girl Simon is going on a date with. She admires the way the warm light illuminates her profile, catching on black curls and wonders quietly when Simon had stopped chasing Clary and found someone else. Her mind flashes to that fateful night, where she almost lost two brothers and to the girl who had followed Jace all through Brooklyn. It’s a blurry image, although only two weeks or so have passed but so much has happened since then, it feels like a lifetime away (the image of Alec, unconscious and barely breathing, however, is still vibrant in her mind, painted in reds and yellows and haunting her some nights).

“She’s cute.” She truly means it even as she tears her eyes away, a smile tugged into the corners of her lips but things happen and maybe she doesn’t think about Maia Roberts all that much after this. (Or maybe she does one day, in the middle of brushing her teeth and looking into the mirror, a flash of that girl at the bar before her eyes and her own words echoing with that soft hint of admiration she can’t quite put her finger on.)

 

**iii.**

Weeks pass, things happen and Isabelle wonders if life will ever slow down for just a moment, give her time to breathe and live. When she looks up, jacket half tugged up her arms, there she is again. It seems a little like they run into each other by accident, unexpected but she has to admit it’s not unpleasant.

“I don’t think we’ve actually met. I’m Isabelle Lightwood.” It’s the first thing she truly says to her, smiling gently and because it’s the right and polite thing to do. Maia barely spares her a second glance before her eyes land upon Simon. “Are you taking **her** on a boat ride?” And Izzy would be insulted for not even getting so much as a _hey_ but the quiver in the other girl’s voice is what truly confuses her.

Simon starts rambling and Maia doesn’t even look at her again and Izzy really, really doesn’t understand what this whole situation is. Simon and Clary only just broke up and Maia seems to have a wall around her, so high and effective enough to keep people out.

“I will see you later.” But it’s only directed to Simon and then Maia steps away and Izzy can’t help but turn, eyes following the other girl (and she most definitely doesn’t stare at those long legs striding towards the kitchen doors).

 

**iv.**

She’s not quite sure why she does it. It really is none of her business and she shouldn’t get involved but Simon is her friend and he’s always helped her when she needed it. So maybe it is her way of saying _thank you for doing this_ , a way of doing something for him after his whole life got turned around because he was thrust into a world of shadows and magic he didn’t understand. Or maybe she just wants to know what that sad flicker in Maia’s eyes meant, what anyone could have done to a girl so fierce and beautiful that had made her pull away so quickly. So, it’s not about Isabelle herself, not at all, but when she looks at Maia now, all defensive and seemingly uninterested, gaze resting upon the book in front of her, something shifts. She asks because there is a gentle tug in her chest that makes her want to know, makes her want to talk.

“Who was he?” She knows she’s overstepping, knows it’s not her place to ask or give advice but her tongue is much quicker than her thoughts, the question slipping past her lips too easily. The answer isn’t what she was expecting at all. Jace? Her very own brother? It’s surprise that roars up her throat, a soft chuckle of disbelief because Maia seems to have no interest in any Shadowhunter.

 _Fun, nothing more_. It should be enough, clearly a sign the other girl doesn’t want to talk about this – especially not to her, a stranger and above all a Shadowhunter. This should be her cue to leave, to nod and maybe give a last word of reassurance that Simon is not like whoever has left Maia’s heart in pieces once. The thing is Isabelle is too used to giving advice to her brothers, although they rarely want to hear it, giving it to anyone because she wants them to be happy. Simon deserves another shot at happiness after this mess and even though Maia and her are barely more than strangers, she wants that for her too.

(She wants it for herself but that is a thought for lonely nights curled up in the silence of her room.) 

“Losing control sucks, I know that better than anyone, but it’s a hell of a lot better than never taking a chance at all.” And maybe it’s the sincerity in her voice, how her own truths blend into her words instead of praises for Simon or cliché advice anyone could have offered but Maia actually looks a little taken aback, stays silent and just stares at her, blinking.

“Nice to meet you, Maia.”

 

**v.**

Laughter echoes through the bar, the orange glow of lights accentuating the carefree atmosphere. It feels oddly like home, a warm fuzzy feeling bubbling inside her veins that has little to do with the two glasses of champagne Izzy has drowned ever since she got here. No, it’s the slow realization that settles in, hours after she had seen Valentine’s dead body and Jace alive and well; the realization that it’s finally over, that the war will end now. Maybe it’s a little foolish of her to think everything will work out now but somehow, she does.

As her gaze drifts over everyone in the Hunter’s Moon, Shadowhunters and Werewolves and Warlocks and even a few Seelies, she couldn’t keep the smile from spreading upon her lips even if she wanted to. There’s Luke laughing with a few others who she assumes are members of the pack, beer bottles in hand and clapping each other on the back. There’s Jace and Clary close to each other at the bar, wrapped up in conversation and hands intertwined upon the counter. She can’t seem to find Alec, usually easy to spot the mop of dark hair above any crowd but her brows only furrow for the smallest of moments before realizing Magnus is nowhere in sight as well and she’s sure this is a good sign at last.

It is a good night, the first one in so long, Izzy muses as she pushes through the crowd to get to the bar and ask for another refill of her glass. She can feel the beginnings of sleep pushing in at the edges of her consciousness, a slow tug of tiredness and exhaustion from days so draining, both physically and emotionally. But it’s worth staying awake for another hour or two, enjoying the atmosphere sparked with a cheerfulness that could only come from one four letter word: _hope_. By tomorrow the next crisis will surely have arrived; there is still the mysterious disappearance of a mass of demons to worry about and as much as tonight looks like a new beginning, Izzy is sure that recent events won’t be so easily forgotten. 

Lost in thought, fingertips gliding over the slightly sticky top of the bar, it takes Isabelle a few moments to register the person pushing up to the counter on her left, a flash of red tugging her attention away from the brown wood. She kindly ignores that the first thing her brain provides as she turns her head is that Maia’s and her own outfit match in color.

They both open their mouths at the same time, about to say something, then close them once more and a laugh bubbles up in Izzy’s throat just as the bartender places her refilled glass in front of her. They take Maia’s glass without a word but the two exchange a small smile and Isabelle is reminded that the werewolf usually works behind the bar, her mind flashing to the night she really took notice of her for the first time. _She’s cute_ , her own voice a distant echo now but no less true. In fact, Maia isn’t just cute. _Cute_ was an understatement, she decides then and there, as warm light dances upon the edges of dark curls and the content smile everyone seems to be wearing today softens her features. She quickly takes a sip of her champagne to silence those thoughts.

“I wanted to say that I… appreciated your advice.” Maia’s voice cuts through the background noise of laughter and clinking glasses and the upbeat music coming from the speakers. Izzy is sure she must look comical as her eyebrows rise high on her forehead. This really is the last thing she expected. She’s caught a glimpse of Maia and Simon earlier, all smiles and touches and seemingly happy and she is glad it worked out in the end. But she never expected the other girl to mention their last encounter ever again.

“I mean, it wasn’t your place to ask and I won’t say thank you. I know all you Shadowhunters have a hobby of getting involved in everyone’s business but you should _really_ work on that.” It’s said with a smile though, a glint in warm brown eyes that tell her Maia is only teasing. Which she is sure is mainly due to the lighthearted atmosphere around them but oh, she’ll take it. “But in the end, it did make me think and it looks like things worked out… for all of us.” 

Maia nods towards the rest of the bar, her black curls bouncing up and down for a moment before the dim orange lights set on them once more. It takes Izzy just a second too long to tear her eyes away and return the small smile the other woman sends her way. “Yeah, looks like it.”

Maia eyes her for a moment, something curious in her gaze as it flickers over Isabelle’s face but the moment is broken when the bartender places a refilled beer glass on the counter and utters a gentle “There you go” before disappearing down the bar once more. The silence that follows now is a little awkward, with nothing left to say between them. It’s not like Izzy to be at a loss for words, usually easy to talk to and make conversation. With Maia, she feels like she is on thin ice, on some invisible edge she doesn’t know how to navigate. Especially after that less than great first impression. Even with their shared laughter now and some sort of mutual understanding, something about the other woman and their silence has heat creeping up her neck as she worries her bottom lip. 

She’s about to bid her goodnight and find Clary and Jace again, maybe down her glass and make her way back to the Institute when Maia raises her own glass in question, one eyebrow raised. With a soft chuckle their glasses clink together, the drinks inside swaying and that awkwardness vanishes, somehow drowned out by the laughter and warmth of the Hunter’s Moon.

“So how was that book on phytoplankton?” Isabelle quickly hides her grin behind the rim of her glass, fighting a chuckle when she sees Maia’s eyebrows shoot up now. In confusion or surprise, she isn’t quite sure.

It takes her another moment to answer, her eyes dancing once more over Izzy’s face as if trying to find a joke or trick in this. When she seems to come up empty she shakes her head on a grin of her own, placing her drink back on the counter. “It was… pretty boring, actually.” Her fingers draw patterns into the drops of water gathered on the outside of her glass. “But I guess not everything you _have_ to study is supposed to be fun.”

“So, you’re studying marine biology?”

“Yeah…” A proud smirk takes over Maia’s features and Isabelle really can’t blame her. She still remembers the day when she had decided to become a forensic pathologist, eyes full of light and heart filled with a yearning for knowledge. When she had graduated in record time with perfect grades, it had made Maryse smile at her for the first time in so long; that alone had been worth it.

“Simon told me you’re a scientist too. Although he wasn’t quite sure what kind and his description included about five adjectives, body parts and more demons?” 

They share a laugh that feels somewhat private even within a room full of people; even between two women barely more than strangers. It’s surprisingly easy to laugh with Maia. 

“Sounds about right.” 

“What’s that like? Cutting open some piece of hell?”

It’s also easy to launch into a story about some demon corpse and add in some gross details that make Maia cringe and somewhere in between they finish their drinks and order new ones.


End file.
